Lester Ballard: Lester Ballard is the main character of the story, Child of God. He is actually the only character that is present in the story for more than two pages. The story follows 27-year-old Lester’s descent into solitude and madness. The book begins with Lester as an outsider. His mother ran away when he was little, his father hung himself, and his property has just been auctioned off. These experiences made Lester into the criminal that he was. He may not have been so cruel to such innocent people if he had not experienced tragedies early on in his life. After his house was sold, he swore to avenge himself on the new owner, John Greer. No one wants to help him because he makes other people uncomfortable with his violent ways.Even when Ballard enters a church service, a setting where people are accepted and loved, he was rejected for who he was.The only friend he really has is the dumpkeeper. Lester enjoys visiting the dumpkeeper’s home because he gets to look at his young, developing daughters. Lester often teases them and hopes that they will like him in return. This shows that Lester was extremely sexual throughout the story. As the story progressed, he began to take it to the extreme by stalking, killing, and raping women that were walking up and down Frog Mountain. I think that because of his encounter with the dumpkeeper’s daughters and the dead woman in the car, he became more violent and sexual. Overall, Lester was a dispossessed and violent criminal, who was trapped in a world of rejection by everyone. That is why he committed the crimes. Lester is a round dynamic character because he has several character traits and he changes throughout the story. Dumpkeeper: Although the dumpkeeper did not play a significant role in the story, he did influence some of Lester’s actions. Because they were friends, Lester was exposed to his developing daughters. The dumpkeeper had nine daughters, all of which were pregnant. Even his youngest who was only 12-years-old was pregnant. This was something that could have provoked Lester’s actions. Lester enjoyed going to the dumpkeeper's house and teasing his daughters. He was obsessed with their sexuality. If he had not seen the pregnant daughters, he may not have been as sexual. He was amazed with how they could go off with local boys and have sex. He longed to have relationships like those of the daughters. He however, did not get to experience this with women who are living. This is because he was getting rejected by every woman in the community, including the dumpkeeper’s daughters. Because he was getting rejected all the time, he decided to kill his victims before he raped them. Therefore it is impossible for him to get rejected. This could have been prevented by not allowing Lester to come in contact with his daughters. Their sexuality influenced Lester to commit these crimes. That is how the dumpkeeper influenced Lester’s actions. The dumpkeeper is a flat and static character because he does not change and he has few character traits.
Sheriff: In the beginning of the story, Lester lost control during his auction and threatened to kill people if they did not leave his property. The sheriff decided to take him away and make him live in a bug infested shack. I believe that if the sheriff had not been so hard on him in the beginning, Lester would not have committed the crimes. I think this because Lester had never once been happy. From his birth to his death, he had not once experienced a happy moment. When the sheriff took him away from his home, he became more depressed. I believe that his depression influenced him to kill and rape those women. I think that he did those crimes because he was happy while doing them. This was the one thing that made him happy, so he did it again and again. The sheriff however, kept trying to stop him, which was his job. Lester thought that the sheriff was trying to ruin the only happy moment in his life. This made Lester want to do it more because he was afraid he would lose that feeling of happiness. Therefore, the Sheriff affected Lester’s actions as well. The sheriff is a static and flat character. He has few character traits and he does not change much.
John Greer: At the beginning, Lester’s home was being auctioned off. The man that bought the house was John Greer. John was a very wealthy man who owned many houses. Lester swore that he would avenge himself on John. Because John bought his house, he already hated him. This hate caused Lester to unleash it on innocent people, along with John himself. In the story, Lester stole from John, and he killed innocent people. This shows the anger that Lester had. Some of the anger was caused by John, so he affected Lester’s actions. If John had not bought his house, he wouldn’t have been as angry, which could have potentially saved the lives of the people he killed. Because of John, innocent people died. That is how John Greer affected Lester’s actions. John Greer is a flat and static character because he does not change and he has few traits.
Dumpkeeper: Although the dumpkeeper did not play a significant role in the story, he did influence some of Lester’s actions. Because they were friends, Lester was exposed to his developing daughters. The dumpkeeper had nine daughters, all of which were pregnant. Even his youngest who was only 12-years-old was pregnant. This was something that could have provoked Lester’s actions. Lester enjoyed going to the dumpkeeper's house and teasing his daughters. He was obsessed with their sexuality. If he had not seen the pregnant daughters, he may not have been as sexual. He was amazed with how they could go off with local boys and have sex. He longed to have relationships like those of the daughters. He however, did not get to experience this with women who are living. This is because he was getting rejected by every woman in the community, including the dumpkeeper’s daughters. Because he was getting rejected all the time, he decided to kill his victims before he raped them. Therefore it is impossible for him to get rejected. This could have been prevented by not allowing Lester to come in contact with his daughters. Their sexuality influenced Lester to commit these crimes. That is how the dumpkeeper influenced Lester’s actions. The dumpkeeper is a flat and static character because he does not change and he has few character traits.
Sheriff: In the beginning of the story, Lester lost control during his auction and threatened to kill people if they did not leave his property. The sheriff decided to take him away and make him live in a bug infested shack. I believe that if the sheriff had not been so hard on him in the beginning, Lester would not have committed the crimes. I think this because Lester had never once been happy. From his birth to his death, he had not once experienced a happy moment. When the sheriff took him away from his home, he became more depressed. I believe that his depression influenced him to kill and rape those women. I think that he did those crimes because he was happy while doing them. This was the one thing that made him happy, so he did it again and again. The sheriff however, kept trying to stop him, which was his job. Lester thought that the sheriff was trying to ruin the only happy moment in his life. This made Lester want to do it more because he was afraid he would lose that feeling of happiness. Therefore, the Sheriff affected Lester’s actions as well. The sheriff is a static and flat character. He has few character traits and he does not change much.
John Greer: At the beginning, Lester’s home was being auctioned off. The man that bought the house was John Greer. John was a very wealthy man who owned many houses. Lester swore that he would avenge himself on John. Because John bought his house, he already hated him. This hate caused Lester to unleash it on innocent people, along with John himself. In the story, Lester stole from John, and he killed innocent people. This shows the anger that Lester had. Some of the anger was caused by John, so he affected Lester’s actions. If John had not bought his house, he wouldn’t have been as angry, which could have potentially saved the lives of the people he killed. Because of John, innocent people died. That is how John Greer affected Lester’s actions. John Greer is a flat and static character because he does not change and he has few traits.